A Lightning Classification Method Based on Convolutional Encoding Features

Abstract

At present, for business lightning positioning systems, the classification of lightning discharge types is mostly based on lightning pulse signal features, and there is still a lot of room for improvement. We propose a lightning discharge classification method based on convolutional encoding features. This method utilizes convolutional neural networks to extract encoding features, and uses random forests to classify the extracted encoding features, achieving high accuracy discrimination for various lightning discharge events. Compared with traditional multi-parameter-based methods, the new method proposed in this paper has the ability to identify multiple lightning discharge events and does not require precise detailed feature engineering to extract individual pulse parameters. The accuracy of this method for identifying lightning discharge types in intra-cloud flash (IC), cloud-to-ground flash (CG), and narrow bipolar events (NBEs) is 97%, which is higher than that of multi-parameter methods. Moreover, our method can complete the classification task of lightning signals at a faster speed. Under the same conditions, the new method only requires 28.2 µs to identify one pulse, while deep learning-based methods require 300 µs. This method has faster recognition speed and higher accuracy in identifying multiple discharge types, which can better meet the needs of real-time business positioning.